Cops in net as anti-drug drive intensifies in northeast
The Hindu
At least a dozen police personnel in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have been arrested since March
In May 2020, the police in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district arrested a Postmaster named Kalido Pertin for providing ₹1.15 lakh to procure 12.5 gm of heroin from Assam’s Tezpur. They also arrested an Indian Reserve Battalion constable who helped two drug-traffickers cross the Bhalukpong check gate on the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border. The arrests confirmed what the State government had been suspecting for a long time — drug addiction among government employees. This culminated in the Pema Khandu government asking its employees to report their addiction to senior officers by July 31 this year for a rehabilitation programme, or face legal action. But the anti-drug drive in the State since May has led the security forces to their own. Less than a fortnight ago, Home Minister Bamang Felix said 25 out of 143 people booked in 100 drug-related cases were police personnel, two of whom have been dismissed from service.More Related News
As speculation over the continuation of Minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare B. Nagendra in the Cabinet persisted, with the demand for his resignation raised by the BJP in connection with the ₹94 crore scam at the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, his Cabinet colleagues came to his defence on Thursday.